Companies don’t want property sellers to know who they are – both online and offline.
When a domain investor receives an offer, they usually try to figure out who is making it. A big company might be able to pay more.
That’s why companies often try to shield themselves using a third party broker or shell company.
This game of shielding your identity didn’t start with domain names. It has long been common in physical real estate transactions.
I was reminded of this yesterday while reading about a 145 acre parcel of land just down the lake from me that went on the market. For over 30 years the land has been owned by an outfit called Camelback Corp.
Many were shocked yesterday to learn that Camelback Corp is Exxon Mobil.
An Exxon spokesperson told the local paper “it’s common practice to set up a separate entity when negotiating property purchases and/or sales.”
Sound familiar?
Mike says
Yes douns familiar and reminds me of the case taken by a UK Company who sold the trade mark for “ipad” to Apple (TM) and they allegedly used a shell company to make the purchase. I believe they then sued Apple in USA in respect of that hiding of identity .Anyone know what happened to that case ?
Ms Domainer says
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Most famous case: Disney went stealth when his shell companies quietly bought up “worthless” land around the Orlando, Florida, area.
We all know how that story turned out…
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Domain Buyer Broker says
Walt Disney was a smart guy.